Category: Scams

There’s no way to know who’s viewing or looking at your Facebook profile or Timeline, or how often it’s being viewed. Facebook does not allow its users to track profile views or post updates.

Not even third-party apps can provide you with this information as there is no such functionality that exists on Facebook. Yet Facebook users will never stop searching for ‘ways to know who viewed their Facebook profile or Timeline.’

Scammers have taken advantage of this and are tricking users into clicking malicious links that leads to a bogus site. Users are prompted to download and install a browser plug-in, which claims to track and display information about Facebook profile views.

A similar scam that is spreading on Facebook is the “Who Viewed Your Profile – Introducing the new feature on Facebook!”

The scammers have made use of profile pictures of users to make the scam appear legitimate. Clicking the link provided in the scam message takes the user bogus site and is prompted to install a browser extension shown below:

It is advised not to install this extension. Browser extensions like this are designed to extract available information from your system and send them across to the scammers who in turn may use to hack into your Facebook account.

There’s a new phishing email that is being sent across to Gmail users stating that their Gmail account might be suspended if they do not verify their account immediately. If you’ve received such an email, it is advised that you delete or report the email as ‘phishing’ immediately.

The following phishing email is being sent across to Gmail users:

Gmail! Mail Account Verification

You are receiving this message due to errors encountered in our regular verification process on your email account.

We need to verify your account, regarding the new security features that is added to your email account.You are required to send us your user name and password to avoid loosing your account

Regards, Gmail! Account Services

Messages like this are sent to mass users by spammer and are specifically designed to collect personal information, called ‘spoofing’ or ‘password phishing.’

As Google explains, “phishing is a form of fraud in which a message sender attempts to trick the recipient into divulging important personal information like a password or bank account number, transferring money, or installing malicious software. Usually the sender pretends to be a representative of a legitimate organization.”

Users should be cautious of any message or email that asks for your personal information, such as username & password, credit card number, or any other credential information. Some messages refer you to a webpage asking for personal information, which also should be avoided.

One thing you can be sure of is that Google or Gmail will never ask you to provide this information in an email; if the message asking for it claims to be from Google or the Gmail team, do not believe it. Gmail doesn’t send mass messages asking for passwords or personal information. If you think your Gmail account has been compromised or taken over, you can follow this link to seek direct help from the Gmail team and resolve the issue as quickly as possible.

In order make a status update viral, users generally mass tag people in their friend list, however, this trend is now being misused by spammers to spread spam links to bogus websites.

A new scam message has been spreading across the social network Facebook that tags multiple users in a post containing a link to a bogus site. When a tagged user clicks on the link, all the friends in the user’s friend list are automatically tagged in a new post and is posted on the user’s wall.

If you find any such similar posts on your News Feed, it is advised that you delete the post immediately and also advise the same to the friend who has been targeted with the scam message. Clicking the link will click-jack and tag-jack your Facebook account, and automatically starts tagging people from your friends’ list and post the same message on your Facebook Wall.

This is a tag-jacking scam message, which will automatically tag random friends from your friends list, which in turn your friends might think that they have been genuinely tagged by you and eventually fall for the trap. If you find any such messages on your Timeline, report it as spam immediately.

A new phishing attack has been discovered on Facebook that targets and tricks Facebook Page owners into entering their Facebook password and email address. This is perhaps one the trickiest phishing attack I’ve come across in the last few months.

If you are a Facebook Page owner and have received a message that asks you to verify your Facebook account, then ignore it. The scam message spreading through Facebook Messages is as follows:

We have reviewed the suspension of your Page. After reviewing your page activity, it was determined that you were in violation of our Terms of Service. We have provided a warning to you via email, but you have not responded to our notifications. Therefore, your account might be permanently suspended.

At the bottom, it says that “Verify your account at the link below: [link].” This message is a scam and do not click or open any links provided. The link actually leads to a Facebook application and is not a Facebook Security Page. Once you click on the “verify your account” link, you will be directed to a malicious Facebook app page where you are asked to provide your page name, email address or phone number, and password.

The ‘Facebook Verification’ form of the Page Security Team phishing attack app looks as shown below:

The details entered will be directly sent to the developer of the app. It is advised that you avoid clicking the link. If in case you have already fallen victim to this scam message, it is highly recommended that you change the password of your Facebook account immediately. Alternatively, you can also visit the Facebook Help Center and try to reclaim your account if it has already been compromised.

No, Facebook will not donate any money if you share or “like” a post. End of story.

This has been probably told like a thousand times earlier, yet users on Facebook continue to share messages that have statements such as, “Facebook will donate $$ every time you share or “like” the post.”

Today I spotted a new hoax message on my Facebook news feed, which tells a story of a young kid who is in need of money for his life saving surgery. The message circulating is as follows:

A 14 YEAR OLD BOY WAS SHOT 6 TIMES BY HIS STEPFATHER. THIS BOY WAS PROTECTING HIS LITTLE 6 YEAR OLD SISTER WHO WAS ABOUT TO BE RAPED BY THIS POOR… EXCUSE OF A MAN. THE LITTLE GIRL DID GET HURT, THANKS TO HER BRAVE OLDER BROTHER. THEIR MOM WAS AT WORK WHEN THIS HAPPENED. NOW THIS BRAVE YOUNG LITTLE BOY IS FIGHTING FOR HIS LIFE,BUT DOCTORS SAY HE WILL NOT SURVIVE UNLESS HE GETS AN OPERATION WHICH IS COSTLY AND HIS MOM CANNOT PAY. FACEBOOK COMPANIES HAVE AGREED TO DONATE 45 CENTS FOR EVERY TIME SOMEONE SHARE THIS MESSAGE SO, PLEASE CLICK SHARE SO THAT TOGETHER WE CAN HELP SAVE THIS BOUS LIFE……NSFTBC! If you had a heart you’d do it, It will only take a minute of your time!

Reading the story makes you feel sad, however, none of it is true. To all those users who believe that this story is true and are sharing it over and over again, please stop it. This is simply a hoax message.

Mark Zuckerberg or Facebook does not make any such donations by getting users to “like” or “share” a photo or message. This isn’t something new as we have seen several such hoax and spam messages spreading across the social network.

It is always advised that users verify such information before spreading it across to their friends. A quick search on Google will help you find out whether the message is a fake or not.

Recently Facebook enabled a new feature on its site called as the “Privacy Shortcuts” that provides users the ability to easily and quickly make changes to your profile’s privacy settings. The update also brings “an easier-to-use Activity Log, and a new Request and Removal tool for managing multiple photos you’re tagged in.”

However, users on Facebook are spreading a false message, which indicates that hackers can gain access Facebook accounts if users answer the low security message –

Facebook Padlock Security Warning Hoax:

HACKERS ALERT….. ATTENTION!!!!! IF ANY OF YOU GET A PADLOCK ON TOP RIGHT HAND CORNER OF FACEBOOK HOME PAGE SAYING YOUR SECURITY IS LOW.. IGNORE.. DO NOT, DO NOT, DO NOT ANSWER THE QUESTIONS.IT IS SO HACKERS CAN ACCESS YOUR ACCOUNT. COPY & PASTE PLEASE

Please understand that the new icon is enabled only to easily access your privacy settings and to avoid confusion. There is no such threat of hackers that the message above claims to be. The shortcut icon cannot be removed and there’s absolutely no harm to your Facebook accounts.

The above message spreading is simply a hoax. Hoax messages like the one above isn’t something new. There have been several such hoax messages reportedly spreading and spamming the social networks. It is always advised that users verify such information before spreading it across to their friends. A quick search on Google will help you find out whether the message is a fake or not.

Christmas is just around the corner and so are some great offers and deals online, however, beware of scams and fake offers spreading on the Web that could cheat you. Facebook is one of the main sites that many scammers target and try to fool people by posting fake offers and promotions.

We have recently discovered that there is a scam message that is spreading on the social networking giant where users are “liking” and sharing it their friends in order to get a “free” gift card. The new Christmas scam message is spreading with the following message and image –

“Hey friends, I got a $1000 free Christmas Gift Card from WALMART! Get it right away! [LINK]”

If you ever come across this on your Facebook Timeline, please avoid clicking on the link. If you do so, you will be taken to a bogus webpage where you will be asked to perform certain steps in order to get the free gift card. However, even after you complete all the steps, you will NOT win any gift cards for free.

The scam message is designed to collect your personal information, which will be then accessed by the creators of the scam message. There are possibilities that your Facebook account could also be hacked, or you might end up sharing your important credentials by falling for the trap.

This is a tag-jacking scam message, which will automatically tag random friends from your friends list, which in turn your friends might think that they have been genuinely tagged by you and eventually fall for the trap. If you find any such messages on your Timeline, report it as spam immediately. Also, don’t forget to inform your friends about it.

Everyone loves gifts and giveaways, and if it is one of Apple’s products, it feels like heaven. It does sound exciting when we hear about such giveaways and we’ll be thrilled to take part in it hoping to win a gift. However, amidst the excitement, we often fail to realize whether the contest we are participating in is legit or a fake.

Well, this is the problem that many Facebook users face. In the latest incident, scammers have taken advantage of the Apple’s new addition — iPad Mini — and have been trying to lure users by asking them to click on a bogus link in order to win a free iPad mini.

The latest scam spreading on the social networking site Facebook is making use of Apple’s signature logo to make the scam message look legit, and is tricking users with a free Apple iPad mini giveaway. The scam spread is as follows:

Upon clicking the link, users will be taken to a rogue Facebook application page, which requests permission to access the user information and post messages on their behalf, ultimately luring the users’ friends to participate in the offer.

The app is designed to gather your personal information that you have provided to Facebook. It is recommended that you avoid installing the Facebook application. If you have already installed it, you can go to your Account Settings –> Apps and delete the particular app from the list. It is also advised that you remove all the messages that were posted by the app on your behalf from your Facebook Timeline and also inform your friends about the same.

A new malware attack on Facebook has been reported, which pretends to be a notification about a Facebook friend’s “sexy” video, and leads the user to downloading of a malware file that is designed to steal information from the user’s computer, and also tricks antivirus scanners into believing that the file is safe.

This was first identified and intercepted by security research firm SophosLabs. According to the case study, the malware attack seems to be launched by some Indonesian and Spanish hackers by taking into the consideration of the languages used in the Facebook message.

Users who click on the link are taken to a website that attempts to get them to download a file called Video_Multimedia.exe, which, according to Sophos, is actually Troj/Agent-YGD malware.

It is also reported that the hacker has used Facebook’s logo and styling to make the email message appear exactly like a Facebook message. If you have received any such email or message on Facebook, it is recommended that you delete it immediately without clicking any links.

To avoid being infected with malware such user is encouraged to:

Ignore unsolicited mail messages

Do not try to play video attachments in the body of the emails.

Validate the email domain and verify that the links correspond to the original domain.

Make sure you have an updated antivirus solution installed on your computer.

A new Facebook scam app has been doing the rounds lately on the social networking site Facebook and Twitter, by asking users to login to a fake Twitter page in order to watch a video that could leave them surprised. The app sends out Direct Messages to all the followers of that Twitter account containing a bogus message and a link to the Facebook app page.

The Direct Message sent to includes the message “lol ur famous now” along with the link to the Facebook app page. Alternate messages sent include, “oh dear, what have you been up to,” “what are you doing in this fb vid?,” “wow ur busted in this video,” and so on.

Here is a list of all the DMs that users have received:

hey this person is making up offensive things that are about you

what are you doing in this viddeoo ROFL

hey this user is making up shocking things that are about you

what are you doing with him n this video

wat r u doing with him in this vidd ROFL

you didnt tell me you had a video

the link i sent before was messed up!

wow your busted in this video!

whatt are you doing in this fb vid ?

precisely what could you be doing on this video clip omg weird

hey this user is making up dreadful posts that are about you

lol ur famous now

hey someone is writing cruel things that are about you

Clicking the link would bring end-users to the following app page with the title “Twitter Video: You must be logged into Twitter to use this app.”

Please be aware that this is a fake Twitter page that is designed to look exactly like a genuine Twitter login page. If you provide your login details here and click on Sign In, you will either end up on an error page, or you will be shown a fake YouTube video player with a list of online survey questions. The page will prompt you to answer the online survey questions first before you can watch the video. However, even after you take up the online survey, there will be no video shown; instead you will be redirected to another bogus page.

Additionally, your login details are sent to the owner of the Facebook app page, who in turn uses it to login to your Twitter account and send Direct Messages to all your followers. If you have accidentally entered your login details, it is recommended that you immediately change your account password, and unlink apps that you might have not given the permission to be associated with your Twitter account.

Alternatively, if you think you’ve found a spam profile, you can follow these steps to report it to Twitter: